Only the cuts-hit Leicester Mercury, owned by Trinity Mirror, recorded growth of any kind. It was up 2 per cent on the previous six months with sales of 29,317 copies and also suffered the shortest fall in year-on-year sales at 4 per cent.

The biggest drop came at the Wigan Evening Post, with average daily sales at 2,822 copies, down 30 per cent year-on-year and 24 per cent on the previous six months.